1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-channel head with a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of reproducing elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the computer field, data storage devices for recording and reproducing magnetic information with respect to a linear tape have been developed as a data backup device. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-276267 discloses a multi-channel head to be used in such a data storage device.
In the multi-channel head, a plurality of recording elements and a plurality of reproducing elements are arranged in a direction perpendicular to a linear tape travel direction. More specifically, there are provided a plurality of element pairs each composed of one recording element and one reproducing element, and these element pairs themselves are arranged in the direction perpendicular to the linear tape travel direction. In addition, the recording element of each element pair is aligned with the recording element of an adjacent element pair in the direction perpendicular to the linear tape travel direction. This is true for the reproducing elements, so that the reproducing element of each element pair is aligned with the reproducing element of an adjacent element pair in the direction perpendicular to the linear tape travel direction.
Recently, higher capacity and faster reading and writing are expected for recording and reproducing of magnetic information, and therefore the multi-channel heads are also required to have a smaller pitch distance between adjacent elements.